3rd summit this year. St. Mary Peak is always fun if you need a quick daytime diversion with some out-of-town friends. 3.2 miles up a nice, clear trail, with the objective plainly in sight for the last mile up. Classic Bitterroot views and the occasional visit with the lookout staffer are among the charms St. Mary has to offer.

forest fires in Idaho forced us to do a "Hail Mary" and head over to Montana for a quick hike on our way to Canada. Very nice trail to the summit and had a nice visit with the person manning the lookout. Too smoky to see much other than the Heavenly Twins. This was our first Bitterroot summit and it looks like a nice area but probably too far from Boise to frequent.

First time on this well maintained trail. Sunny and warm on the hike up, but the summit was bitterly cold and blustery. Stood a long time looking east and fantasizing about an attempt at the Heavenly Twins. Will be trying that soon!

The snow has been terrible around here for skiing lately, but we decided to get out anyway. We put 4 chains on my buddy's Ranger and were able to get up the icy road a little ways to about 4800 feet. Skinned up the east side, cutting switchbacks to the trailhead, and on up towards the summit. The last 400 feet we ditched the skis to walk up the rocky windblown slopes. The summit cabin has a little trapdoor on the east side for winter access to the shelter. Sure helped to get out of the wind! Returned pretty much the same way and the ski down was not so great due to the crappy snow. Oh well, it was still a fun day on the mountain under a beautiful blue sky!

Started the hike off and was pretty warm and got chilly fast as the cold front came in. Was in the clouds, windy, and a little bit of snow flying. It was amazing. Finished the hike in 3 hours round trip.

Did this solo, was a fun hike. The lookout was open, so I sat up there and used the fire triangulation equipment to locate a fire burning in Idaho. I lugged up a half bottle of merlot and sipped on it enjoying the view before I hiked back down. Would love to go again someday, the views were outstanding!

Spectacular views from the top on a cloudless yet slightly hazy 4th of July. We followed the summit ridge to the south and glissaded down towards McCalla Lake... still plenty of skiing to be had in the south bowl!

An easy hike. Have been up here several times since, but on this first occasion I carried my two year old daughter on a beautiful early fall day. Got a great picture of her sitting on the pit toilet that still hangs in our bathroom!